


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS La Crosse, WI
Issued by NWS La Crosse, WI
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878 FXUS63 KARX 151706 AFDARX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 1206 PM CDT Tue Jul 15 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Warm and muggy today with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s. - Widespread showers and storms expected mostly on Wednesday. Severe potential remains low at this time as this potential will be impacted by how storms evolve Tuesday night. - Cooler temperatures for the end of the week with highs in the 70s and low 80s from Thursday through the weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 300 AM CDT Tue Jul 15 2025 Today-Wednesday: Dry During the Day, Showers and Storms Beginning Tonight Southwesterly flow continues for today allowing for good warm air advection into the region. It will also feel quite muggy today as dewpoints range from the upper 60s to low 70s. Upstream, a cold front will gradually shift south through central Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening. Then this boundary becomes quasi-stationary and situates itself along the northwestern periphery of our CWA. Many of the CAMs struggle to get storms past our northwestern counties during the overnight. If this holds true, then the environment across much of the forecast area would not have been influenced or interfered with by those storms, keeping it cleaner. Heading into Wednesday morning, a surface low moves into the region. While this will bring shower and storms, the severe potential remains low as there are uncertainties with how far south the boundary from tonight goes. While there looks to be okay mid-level shear, the low level shear is limited. Another thing to note is that with the passage of the surface low almost directly overhead, a wind shift associated with the front that will gradually shift east during the day, and the previously mentioned weak low-level shear, landspouts could be possible. Along the front, gusty winds will be possible as some CAMs are showing a more defined line of storms beginning near the Mississippi River and shifting east during the afternoon. With some slow moving boundaries, outflows, and PWATs between 1.5 and 2 inches, heavy rainfall will be possible. Current forecast has widespread 0.5 to 0.75 inches across the CWA. NBM probabilities for greater than 0.75 inches are between 20 and 50% with the highest probabilities in portions of northeast iowa and western Wisconsin. Due to the heavy rain potential, WPC has put the entire CWA in a slight risk for their Excessive Rainfall Outlook for Wednesday. With the remaining uncertainties of storm coverage and cloud cover, the temperature spread across the CWA is quite a bit, ranging from the low 70s in the north to the mid 80s in southwestern and south central Wisconsin. Thursday-Friday: Mostly Dry, Cooler Some lingering showers early Thursday morning remain possible as another shortwave moves through the Upper Midwest. After this, mostly dry conditions are expected. With west to west- northwest flow aloft, cooler air will be ushered in behind the storms from Wednesday and dewpoints will fall into the 50s. Temperatures are Thursday are looking a little cooler than the previous forecasts with highs only in the low 70s across much of the CWA, with a few areas struggling to get above 70F! Thursday night will have low temperatures in the low to 50s across much of forecast area with portions of Taylor County staying in the upper 40s. Depending on cloud cover, favored areas east of the Mississippi River could also get down into the upper 40s as illustrated by the NBM 10th percentile. Friday looks to be a little warmer but remaining dry, with highs in the mid to upper 70s. Saturday-Tuesday: More Storm Chances?, Warmer After a couple of days in northwest flow, a more zonal pattern returns to the Upper Midwest and as a result, warm air advection also returns. Temperatures climb back into the upper 70s to mid 80s into early next week. With this flow pattern, the risk for storms increases. While there are uncertainties with timing, a majority of both the GEFS and EPS members have rain impacting the forecast area this weekend. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1205 PM CDT Tue Jul 15 2025 VFR conditions are forecast through much of tonight, with MVFR stratus working in from the northwest around sunrise on Wednesday. This stratus overspreads much of the region aside from far southwestern WI during the morning with additional restrictions due to showers and storms possible after 10-12Z in southeast Minnesota, reaching the LSE area towards 15Z. Winds today remain from the SSW at 10-15G15-25kts, decreasing and backing to the E/SE for the morning on Wednesday. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Cecava AVIATION...Skow